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Polymer Gels: Preparation, Characterization, and Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Networks".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2024) | Viewed by 5098

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
2. The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510700, China
Interests: stimuli-responsive polymer; microgel and hydrogel; drug delivery; sensor and biosensor; smart materials; tough hydrogel; wastewater remediation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, polymer gels from natural or synthetic materials have gathered increasing interest thanks to the chemical and physical properties of polymeric materials. The dramatic progress achieved has been illustrated in a variety of aspects, such as preparation, characterization, and applications. Using polymer gels as a building block for functional systems or a tailed microenvironment to conduct specific reactions has progressed from an experimental consideration to practical reality. Taking advantage of the peculiar properties of polymers, such as their low cost, chemical versatility, and biocompatibility, by incorporating them into different functional materials, polymer gels have been developed in various areas, especially in biomedical applications. Although polymer gels have been developed for the past several decades, however, there are still huge gaps of knowledge in certain research areas. For example, we urgently need a better understanding of the mechanism of preparation and creative thinking behind designing and constructing different types of polymer gels, as well as developing new characterization tools and expanding the application of polymer gels in interdisciplinary fields.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect studies on the preparation, characterization, and application of polymer gels, with excellent properties in frontier disciplines. The submitted studies may deal with any of the aspects mentioned above. Papers presenting studies on the relationship between manufacture, characterization, and properties related to polymer gel fabrication and application, as well as those focused on the development of novel technological processing and the development of novel applications in clinical medicine are particularly welcome in this Special Issue.

Dr. Yongfeng Gao
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • polymer gels
  • stimuli-responsive
  • diagnosis
  • polymerization
  • hydrogel and micro/nanogel
  • smart materials

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 7731 KiB  
Article
Exploring Alternatives to Polyacrylamide: A Comparative Study of Novel Polymers in the Flocculation and Dewatering of Iron Ore Tailings
by Gustavo P. Zago, Reinaldo Giudici and João B. P. Soares
Polymers 2023, 15(14), 3019; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15143019 - 12 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1797
Abstract
Despite being widely used in tailings treatment, polyacrylamide continues to face performance challenges. In this study, two commercial polyacrylamides with different molecular weights were used to flocculate iron ore tailings and their performance was compared with two polymers designed to treat oil sand [...] Read more.
Despite being widely used in tailings treatment, polyacrylamide continues to face performance challenges. In this study, two commercial polyacrylamides with different molecular weights were used to flocculate iron ore tailings and their performance was compared with two polymers designed to treat oil sand tailings: poly(vinylbenzyl)trimethylammonium chloride and partially hydrolyzed poly(methyl acrylate) grafted onto ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer backbones. The polyacrylamide with the highest molecular weight performed better than the one with the lowest molecular weight, but its efficiency was still considerably lower than what would be desired for good solid–liquid separation. The new polymer flocculants performed better than the commercially available polyacrylamides but retained high amounts of water in the sediments. This comparison shows that polymers other than polyacrylamide may be used to treat iron ore tailings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Gels: Preparation, Characterization, and Applications)
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25 pages, 8351 KiB  
Article
Engineering Cell Microenvironment Using Nanopattern-Derived Multicellular Spheroids and Photo-Crosslinked Gelatin/Hyaluronan Hydrogels
by Zhen Zhang, Yi Liu, Xuelian Tao, Ping Du, Myagmartsend Enkhbat, Khoon S. Lim, Huaiyu Wang and Peng-Yuan Wang
Polymers 2023, 15(8), 1925; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15081925 - 18 Apr 2023
Viewed by 2648
Abstract
Cell cultures of dispersed cells within hydrogels depict the interaction of the cell–extracellular matrix (ECM) in 3D, while the coculture of different cells within spheroids combines both the effects of cell–cell and cell–ECM interactions. In this study, the cell co-spheroids of human bone [...] Read more.
Cell cultures of dispersed cells within hydrogels depict the interaction of the cell–extracellular matrix (ECM) in 3D, while the coculture of different cells within spheroids combines both the effects of cell–cell and cell–ECM interactions. In this study, the cell co-spheroids of human bone mesenchymal stem cells/human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HBMSC/HUVECs) are prepared with the assistance of a nanopattern, named colloidal self-assembled patterns (cSAPs), which is superior to low-adhesion surfaces. A phenol-modified gelatin/hyaluronan (Gel-Ph/HA-Ph) hydrogel is used to encapsulate the multicellular spheroids and the constructs are photo-crosslinked using blue light. The results show that Gel-Ph/HA-Ph hydrogels with a 5%-to-0.3% ratio have the best properties. Cells in HBMSC/HUVEC co-spheroids are more favorable for osteogenic differentiation (Runx2, ALP, Col1a1 and OPN) and vascular network formation (CD31+ cells) compared to HBMSC spheroids. In a subcutaneous nude mouse model, the HBMSC/HUVEC co-spheroids showed better performance than HBMSC spheroids in angiogenesis and the development of blood vessels. Overall, this study paves a new way for using nanopatterns, cell coculturing and hydrogel technology for the generation and application of multicellular spheroids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Gels: Preparation, Characterization, and Applications)
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